B&I Capital AG Acquires New Position in EastGroup Properties, Inc. (NYSE:EGP)

B&I Capital AG bought a new stake in shares of EastGroup Properties, Inc. (NYSE:EGP - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund bought 5,195 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock, valued at approximately $915,000.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of EastGroup Properties by 1.0% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 6,990,950 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $1,121,978,000 after purchasing an additional 72,199 shares during the last quarter. Cohen & Steers Inc. raised its holdings in shares of EastGroup Properties by 141.6% in the 4th quarter. Cohen & Steers Inc. now owns 2,855,920 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $458,347,000 after purchasing an additional 1,673,663 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC increased its holdings in shares of EastGroup Properties by 1.4% in the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,579,515 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $253,496,000 after purchasing an additional 21,432 shares during the period. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of EastGroup Properties by 24.0% during the 4th quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,413,716 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $226,888,000 after purchasing an additional 273,217 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its position in EastGroup Properties by 234.7% in the 1st quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,222,064 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $215,267,000 after acquiring an additional 856,971 shares in the last quarter. 92.14% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

EGP has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company set a $215.00 price target on EastGroup Properties and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Sunday, July 13th. Piper Sandler reduced their target price on EastGroup Properties from $175.00 to $172.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 15th. Robert W. Baird reduced their target price on shares of EastGroup Properties from $194.00 to $190.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, May 7th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of EastGroup Properties from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Sunday, April 27th. Finally, Barclays cut their price target on EastGroup Properties from $193.00 to $182.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, EastGroup Properties currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $190.00.

EastGroup Properties Price Performance

Shares of EGP traded up $2.78 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $168.14. The stock had a trading volume of 269,950 shares, compared to its average volume of 386,856. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $169.21 and its 200-day moving average price is $169.43. EastGroup Properties, Inc. has a 52 week low of $137.67 and a 52 week high of $192.61. The company has a market capitalization of $8.83 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.79, a P/E/G ratio of 3.66 and a beta of 1.01. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 0.12 and a quick ratio of 0.12.

EastGroup Properties (NYSE:EGP - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 23rd. The real estate investment trust reported $2.12 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.11 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $174.45 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $169.67 million. EastGroup Properties had a net margin of 34.60% and a return on equity of 7.41%. EastGroup Properties's revenue for the quarter was up 13.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.98 earnings per share. On average, analysts forecast that EastGroup Properties, Inc. will post 8.94 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

EastGroup Properties Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, July 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 30th were issued a $1.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 30th. This represents a $5.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.33%. EastGroup Properties's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 122.54%.

About EastGroup Properties

EastGroup Properties, Inc NYSE: EGP, a member of the S&P Mid-Cap 400 and Russell 1000 Indexes, is a self-administered equity real estate investment trust focused on the development, acquisition and operation of industrial properties in major Sunbelt markets throughout the United States with an emphasis in the states of Florida, Texas, Arizona, California and North Carolina.